I did not know but AirTran pilots have been seeking a better contract for the last 5 years. They want what most pilots want which is better wages and what is termed "quality of life" improvements. Obviously AirTran is concerned that these requested changes could affect their "low-cost advantage".

I hope some AirTran pilots could post here and explain to the rest of us why this has dragged on for 5 years even though we could all guess and probably be right.

From the article
"AirTran captains in their 10th year of service who fly 75 hours a month on small narrowbody aircraft earn on average $129,000 a year, compared with $143,000 at American and $197,000 at Southwest Airlines, according to aviation consultant Kit Darby, who tracks pilot pay across the industry."

Quoting KarlB737 (Thread starter):I hope some AirTran pilots could post here and explain to the rest of us why this has dragged on for 5 years even though we could all guess and probably be right.

I know several of these guys, they arent by no means looking to become rich or break the company they are only asking to be paid industry average for mainline carriers. Before people start the typical leave your job if you dont like it crap, talk to one of them one on one they are a great group of guys and ladies they would be glad to talk about the contract, whats going on at FL.

ALL views, opinions expressed are mine ONLY and are NOT representative of those shared by Southwest Airlines Co. or Airt

Quoting Atlwest1 (Reply 3):I know several of these guys, they arent by no means looking to become rich or break the company they are only asking to be paid industry average for mainline carriers.

And that is the problem/ airTran--relatively speaking---is a small airline. I would expect them to be below the industry average. I would expect the larger and more profitable airlines to be above the average. After all it is an average and someone has to be below it. It really has nothing to do if they are great guys or not.

Quoting Atlwest1 (Reply 3):I know several of these guys, they arent by no means looking to become rich or break the company they are only asking to be paid industry average for mainline carriers. Before people start the typical leave your job if you dont like it crap, talk to one of them one on one they are a great group of guys and ladies they would be glad to talk about the contract, whats going on at FL.

It's apples to oranges....AA and WN dwarf FL...
Paying WN labor rates will definitely make them uncompetitive...and it will hurt and damn them almost immediately....
How can that not come across as greed
They make $197,000 a year and I make $129,000 which let me guess is not a livable wage...what baffles me more is that they have the nerve to compare the salariesAA is 6x the size of FLWN is 5x the size of FL

Quoting thegreatRDU (Reply 6):They make $197,000 a year and I make $129,000 which let me guess is not a livable wage...what baffles me more is that they have the nerve to compare the salaries

What the hell do you mean by the nerve? It is certainly reasonable to provide a comparison to other US airlines.
That said it would be better if a comparison was offered to other similar airlines - they are pretty darn close to Sun Country and Frontier, as well as Midwest, when it still existed. It does not, however, mean there is something wrong with seeking a better contract.

The nerve because they AA and FL are not equally matched...
The nerve because unemployment is at %10+ in this country
The nerve because the industry loses billions each year
The nerve because it is already a very reasonable and livable wage
The nerve because a union is a business and is in it to make money
The nerve because the wage is in line with similar sized carriers

Quoting Atlwest1 (Reply 3):Before people start the typical leave your job if you dont like it crap, talk to one of them one on one they are a great group of guys and ladies they would be glad to talk about the contract, whats going on at FL.

That's all nice and good, but when there are thousands who would love to take your job off your hands, you don't have much leverage. I'm sure they're nice people, but so are all of those that are unemployed.

Quoting thegreatRDU (Reply 9):The nerve because a union is a business and is in it to make money

A) Those losses have a lot more to do with problems with the fundamentals of some airlines as opposed to a few more dollars for a labor group. Therefore irrelevant.
B) This is just patently false. Perhaps you should go back and review some of the posts in the Spirit Airlines thread.

Quoting lrdc9 (Reply 13):
Well, here's the good news. You don't have to be a legacy carrier to be a major airline. 130+ airplanes is not a small business.

Delta = 743
American = 615
Southwest = 547
Continental = 339

My point? Yes, they are small.

Quoting lrdc9 (Reply 14):
Ahh they would be easily replaceable if the airline could fire them with out cause. Luckily the union protects them from that kind of thing. Along with working on the new contract.

But they don't have any leverage. Don't like the offer? Fine, strike, drive the airline into the ground, and everyone loses. The article clearly says the airline is hitting financial trouble, so demanding more money now could just lead to more layoffs down the road.

Quoting lrdc9 (Reply 13):Those losses have a lot more to do with problems with the fundamentals of some airlines as opposed to a few more dollars for a labor group. Therefore irrelevant.

Coming from a guy whose signature is say no to scabs...

Quoting lrdc9 (Reply 13):B) This is just patently false. Perhaps you should go back and review some of the posts in the Spirit Airlines thread.

And what is false? Airlines haven't lost billions every year? Labor unions are a for profit business...
Or is that too irrelevant...
Logan, stay in school and work hard...your entitled to your beliefs no matter how ignorant...

Revenue can be attributed to size...WN's model is based on growth so they can spread their fixed costs

Quoting PITrules (Reply 17):Again, what a silly argument. DL and now United are twice the size of WN. I guess UA and DL employees should have double the salary of WN? Hmmm, on second thought you guys might be on to something..

Luckily they went into bankruptcy or it would have been that way...

Quoting newark777 (Reply 18):I had assumed until now that I was arguing with a hardened union lackey who was more experienced with labor scabs,

Likewise!

Again the argument is a man is making $129,000 wants more money because a greedy for profit union tells him he is underpaid and not making a livable wage or a good quality of life...

When many would kill for earnings like that...it's just greed when you look at it...

Which, have no doubt, is a fantastic point, until you realize that the size really has no relevance to pay anyway. 100-150 seat aircraft are the same size in a 10 aircraft fleet or a 200 aircraft fleet. Pay should follow the aircraft size, not fleet size.

So lets compare AirTran to JetBlue's A320 pay scale, an airline with similar size and mission.